Manifold



H. F. SMITH. MANIFOLD. APPLICATION FILED OCT. H, 1920.

Patented June 27,1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY r. SMITH, or DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, 13g MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To THEGAS RESEARCH COMPANY, or DAYTON, oHIo, A CORPORATION oro'H o.

MANIFOLD,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11118 27, 1922. I

Application filed October 11, 1920. Serial No. 415,965.

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, HARRY F.,SM1TH, acitizen of the United States of America, re-' siding at Dayton, countyof Montgomery, and tate of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Manifolds, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to conveying systems, and more particularly to adivided manifold having means for preventing leakage, at the places ofjointure, from one passage of'the manifold 'to another.

One of the principal objects of theinvention is to provide meansassociated with the ends of the sections of a divided manifold forpreventing the leakage of the material conveyed by the manifold from apassage upon one side of a dividing partition to a passage upon theother side.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fitting foruse in connection with purifying apparatus such as that disclosed inUnited States Patent 1,099,773 issued to me June 9th, 1914, whichfitting has means associated with the dividing partition thereof toprevent the escape of impurity containing gas from its conveying passageinto the passage conveying the clean gas.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription set out below when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing.

In the purification of gas, particularly producer gas, as described inthe patent above referred to, the drum containing the separator orextractor pad is normally mounted upon a fitting which comprises adivided manifold, the passage upon one side of the dividing partitionconnecting the drum upon one side of the extractor pad to a source ofimpure gas, and the passage on the other side of the dividing partitionconnecting the drum upon the opposite side of the extractor pad to theplace of utilization of the gas. In other words, instead of using onepipe to convey the impure gas to the extractor andanother pipe to conveythe clean gas from the extractor, it is the practice to use a singledivided manifold, in which the impure gas passes therethrough upon oneside of the dividing partition and the clean gas upon the other side ofsuch partition. It has also been the practice to properly machine theflanges, provided upon the opposite ends of these fittings, forpermittlng theirattachment to the ends of cooperating fittlngsor pipesections, so that a substantlally gas-tight joint will be secured when,the fitting is in. assembled position. For ordinary operations the jointthus formed; is sufficiently tight. In many cases, however, as whereextreme cleanness of the gas is desired, there should be completeprevention of any leakage of impure gas into the cleaned gas; for itisevident that appreclable leakage of impure gas through the place ofjointure ofthe dividing positions of the manifolds into the clean gasside thereof will result in the delivered gas having an excessivequantity of impurity.

In order to prevent this leakage, or transfer, of material from thepassage upon one side of the dividing partition into the passage uponthe other side of the dividing partition, the apparatus is constructedas shown in the drawing, in which is illustrated, somewhatdiagrammatically a fitting for receiving a drum or housing containing aseparator or. extractor pad such as described in the above referred topatent, certain parts being broken away to more clearly illustrate theinvention.

In the drawing the numeral 10 designates generally a fitting having flan'es 11 at each end thereof adapted for attachment to correspondlngflanges 12 upon cooperating fittings, or sections of pipe or manifold,13. This fitting 10 has a dividing partition '15 therein, which extendslengthwise of the fitting, dividing it into two passages 16 and 17. Thisdividing partition 15, when the fitting is in assembled position, thatis, attached to the cooperating members 13,is in alignment with acorresponding dividing partition 18 which divides such cooperatingmembers 13, forming a part of the conveying system, into passagescorresponding to the passages 16 and 17 Opening through the upperwall'of the fitting 10 are two ports 20 and 21, the port 20 opening intothe passage 16 and the port 21 into the passage 17 Surrounding the ports20 and 21 is an upstanding flange 22 adapted to receive the base flange23 of the drum 24. This flange 22 generally carries suitable looking orretaining mechanism which cooperates with the base flange 23 to hold thedrum' 24 in assembled position.

pad 26, preferably composed of very fine glass wool. The space withinthe drum upon one side of the partition 25 is adapted for connection,through one of the ports 20-.21, to one of the passages 16- 17, thespace within the drum upon the other side of the partition 25 beinglikewise adapted for connection through one of the ports 2021, to theother of'the passages within the fitting 10. The drum is rotatable sothat by proper positioning the direction of flow through the extractorpad may be reversed.

As shown in the drawing, the space upon one side of the partition, forexample the space to the left, is connected through'the port 20 andpassage 16 to the generating chamber of the producer. The passage 16therefore contains impurityladen gas. The space within the drum upon theother side of the partition 25 is connected through the port 21 to thepassage 17, the gas within this passage 17 being therefore cleaned gas,more or less free from impurity.

The contacting surfaces upon the corresponding ends of the fitting 10and the cooperating members 13 are preferably machined so that a tightjoint may be secured through metal to metal contact of these contactingfaces. In actual practice a differential pressure of about two pounds tothe square inch exists upon opposite sides of the extractor pad 26, and,therefore, a corresponding differential pressure exists within thepassages 16 and 1-7. Also the pressures within each of the passages 16and 17 are normally above atmospheric. Under these conditions it isdiificult to secure such a metal to metal contact as will entirelyprevent the escape of gas from the passage 16 into the passage 17. Toprevent the transfer of impure gas from thepassage 16 to the passage 17a groove'is provided within the contacting faces of the dividingpartitions 15 and 18, which groove is in open connection with theatmosphere. Any gas which tends to leak between the contacting faces ofthe dividing partitions from the passage 16 into the passage 17 will betrapped withinthis groove and thus will escape to the atmosphere.

Inactual practice, in order to make easier the construction of thefittings 10 and c0- operating members 13 and to facilitate assemblythereof, connecting bolts are used upon only two sides of the fitting,the fianges upon the other two sides, at each end, having no connectingbolts. It sometimes happens, because of this method of connecting thatthe contacting surfaces of the flanges having no bolts are not held insufiiciently close .contaetto .prevent leakage therethrough. To takecare of such leakage as might occur, the grooves 35 are provided in theflanges having no connecting bolts so that if desired, packing materialmay be tamped into place within these grooves to make the jointsatisfactorily tight.

As shown in the drawing the contacting faces of the fitting 10 and ofthe pipes 13 are each provided with grooves which, when the sections ofthe manifold are in assembled position, register with each other. Ifdesired the entire groove may be located within either the fitting 10 orthe cooperating pipe sections 13, either construction being entirelysatisfactory so long as a groove of sufficient size is provided to ventinto the atmosphere all of the gas that may be trapped therein.

lVhile the form of apparatus herein shown and described constitutes apreferred form of embodiment of the invention, it is to be understoodthat other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of theclaims which follow.

lVhat I claim is as follows:

1. In gas purifying apparatus of the character described, thecombination with a drum, having a base member, a dividing partitiontherein, constructed to receive a pervious diaphragm, and a plurality ofports within the base member thereof, one upon each side of the dividingpartition; of a fitting adapted to receive the base member of the drum,and having ports therein, adapted to cooperate with the ports within thebase member of the drum, a partition within said fitting, dividing itinto two passages, each of the ports within the fitting opening into oneof the said passages, the construction being such that when the ports inthe base member of the drum register with the ports in the fitting, oneend of the drum, upon one side of the dividing partition therein isconnected to one of the passages with'the fitting, while the other endof the drum, upon the other side of the partition therein, is connectedto the other of the passages withinthe fitting; means carried by thefitting and constructed to receive other means adapted for cooperationwith the base member of the drum for holding the drum in position; meansat each end of the fitting for joining it to a cooperating fitting orsection of manifold, and means for preventing leakage at the place ofjointure from one of the passages in the fitting to the other.

2. In gas purifying apparatus of the character described, thecombination of a drum, having a supporting base member thereon, adividing partition within said drum, constructed to receive a perviousdiaphragm, and two ports within said base member, one upon each side ofsaid partition; a fitting, for supporting the drum, a surface on saidfitting adapted to receive the base member of the drum, the cooperatingsurfaces of the base member and the fitting being so constructed as toform a tight joint, the surface on the fitting having two ports thereinpositioned to cooperate with the ports in the base member of the drum,each of the ports in the fitting opening into the interior thereof; apartition'within said fitting dividing it into two passages, each of thesaid passages being connected, when the apparatus is in operativeposition, through one of the ports in the fitting, and the cooperatingport in the base member, to one end of the drum; a flange upon each endof the fitting, for attachment to a corresponding flange upon acooperating fitting or manifold; and a groove within the end of thedividing partition, connected to the atmosphere, the construction beingsuch that leakage from one passage of the fitting into the other, or ofair into either passage of the fitting, is prevented.

3. A gas cleaning system of the character described comprising, incombination, a drum, having a dividing partition therein, a perviousdiaphragm within said partition, a fitting supporting said-drum, apartition within said fitting dividing it into two passages, one of saidpassages, during operation of the device being connected to the drumupon one side of the partition therein, the

other passages being connected to the drum upon the other side of thepartition therein, one of said passages being adapted to convey gas tobe cleaned to one side of said drum, whence it passes through thepervious diaphragm into the other side of the drum, and is then conveyedaway through the other passage in the dividing manifold; a flange uponthe end of said fitting for attachment to a corresponding fitting ormanifold, said corresponding fitting or manifold having a dividingpartition and flange, adapted to cooperate with the corresponding end ofthe partition within said first named fitting, and a groove in the endof the dividing partition of the first named fitting at all times opentothe atmosphere, the construction being such that leakage of untreatedgas from one side of the fitting into the treated gas in the other sideof the fitting is prevented.

4:. Cleaning apparatus of the character described comprising, incombination, a housing having an inlet port and an outlet port therein,means within said housing intermediate said ports for treating the fluidpassing therethrough; a fitting for supporting said housing, a partitiontherein dividing the fitting into two passages, said fitting having twoports therein, each connected to one of said passages and each adaptedfor connection to one of the ports in the housing; and a groove in theend of the dividing partition of the fitting at all times in opencommunication with the atmosphere.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

HARRY F. SMITH. itnesses HERMAN G. DUERR,

DOROTHY FISHER.

